Improvement in knitting-machines



5 Sheets-Sheet 1 W. H. MGNARY. Knitting-Machine.

NJETERS, PHDTO-UTHOGRAPNER, WASHINGYON, D C.

Patented July 2,1878,

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W. H. MQNARY. Knitting-Machine. No. 205,663. I Patented July 2,1878.

5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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Knitting-Machine. No. 205,663. Patented July 2,1878.

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\YILLIAM ll. MCXARY, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN V. D. REED, OF

NE\V YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN KNITTING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 205,663, dated July 2,1878; application filcd January 24, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, l VILLIAM ll. MCNARY, of the city of Brooklyn,county of Kings, State of New York, am the inventor of Improvements inKnitting-lvlachines, for knitting articles of various regular orirregular forms, including spherical or partly spherical as well asstraight work, or a combination of the two, and of which the followingis a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of the same.

My invention is more specially applicable to that class of rotary andflat machines in which a desired form is given to the article knitted bycontrolling the rotary or lateral motions of the needles during theprocess of knitting, and for improvements for which Letters Patent havebeen heretofore granted to me.

Figure 1 is a plan of a lniitting-n'iachine containing my improvements.Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a frontelevation of th ech an gegearin g and other mechanism for regulating thespeed of the feed-rollers. Fig. 4 is a side view of the same. Fig. 5 isa side View of what is denominated the switchwheel and a portion of theforked switchlever. Fig. 6 is a top view of the same. Fig. 7 is a sideview of a portion of the switchlever and its attachments at the pointwhere the pinion upon it is in contact with segmental gear upon theindex. Fig. Sis a side view of an incline and segmental gear used by me.Fig. 9 is a top view of the lower attachments of the revolving button,consisting of squares and angles, and also showing the position of oneof the pins in the index-ring at the point where it first comes incontact with one of the angles. Fig. 10 is one of the small inclinessometimes placed upon the index. Fig. 11 is a side view of a wiper,wiper-lever, and its attachments, and the cams for operating it. Fig. 12is a top view of the gate, its guides, and a section of the needle-ring.Fig. 13 is a side sectional viewof the gate, the needle-rin g, theyarn-guide, the fixed presser, and a side view of a needle and the blankattached to it. Fig. 1+1. is a bottom view of the small switch on theindex-ring and its attachments. Fig.

15 is an end view of the cam, and Fig. 16 is a side view of the same.

My improved lniitting-machine is attached to a suitable frame consistingof a flat horizontal plate, A, which may be mounted upon any suitablelegs or table. To this frame is attached at the front a short uprightcylinder, B, containing the needle-ring B, and which are both'substantially similar to those employed in the machines already in use.The needle-ring B receives its step-by-step and oscillatory motion fromthe switch-wheel 0 upon the main driving-sl'iaft in a similar manner tothat described in Patent No. 64,241; but the mechanism for shifting theposition of the switclrlever c, by which the changing of the directionof the obliquity of the switch 0 is effected, is what I desire toprotect by this application for Letters Patent.

The large flat horizontal wheel or index E, revolving in eitherdirection about the vertical stud E securely fixed in the rear of theframe A, is geared directly into the switch-wheel c in a manner similarto the wheel 1) upon the opposite side of switch-wheel 0. Over theindexwheel E is placed the switch-lever 6, one end of which is pivotedupon the stud E at the center of the index E, and the other end, whichis similar in form to the corresponding end of the one already used,reaches out toward and its forked ends embrace the outer edge of theswitch-wheel c in the usual manner.

Secured in a longitudinal slot in lever e, in such a manner as to have amotion parallel with the lever 6 only, is a slide, f, held in a positionlongitudinally, except when being acted upon by mechanism to behereinafter described, by the V-shaped end of a spring, f resting upon aratchet, f upon the slide f. Near one end of this slide f is a revolvingbutton, g, connected by the stud g to the small pinion or toothed wheelon the under side of the slide f. Upon the top of this button 9 is asmall flat spring, 9 fastened at one end to the button 9 near its outerperiphery, and

extending across to and a little beyond the opposite edge of the button,and having near its end a small pin, '9 which, extending downwardthrough a small hole in the button, and entering a little way into oneof two similar holes in the slide, prevents the button g from revolving,except when the end of the spring g is slightly raised.

Passing through the slide f, upon opposite sides of the button 9, andsufiiciently near to the button so that the extended end of the springwill reach over one or the other of them, are two vertical pins, 9 g.These pins, which have shoulders to prevent their dropping entirelythrough the holes in the slide f, through which they pass, extend down alittle below the lever 0. They are pushed up one at a time at certainintervals by inclines or angle-pieces h h, of which there are two, setat different points upon the horizontal surface of the index E runningunder them. The pin or g so pushed up raises the extended end of theflat spring over it, and this, drawing the lower end of the pin g out ofthe hole in the slide in which it was, unlocks the button g and leavesit free to turn half-way about. This turning is effected by one or theother of two segments of gears, k h, one fastened to the inner side ofone of the inclines h, the other to the outer side of the incline it.These segments, acting upon opposite sides of the pinion g give thebutton g a half-turn in the opposite direction, according to which oneof the segments comes in contact with the pinion, and it is thus lockedagain by the pin 9 in its position.

Below the pinion g and attached to it, is a peculiarly-shaped piece, 1',Fig. 9, bein g asquare with angle-pieces i i projecting outward upon twoopposite sides. One of the pins j, of which there may be any number uponthe index, according to the form which it is desired to give the articleto be knitted, coming in contact with one of these angles 11 11 causesthe slide f to move longitudinally a distance equal to the width of onetooth of the ratchet. This movement causes a square portion of the pieceto come immediately in front of the pin j, and at the next movement ofthe index E exerts sutficient lateral pressure upon the square toovercome the resistance of the V- shaped spring in the notch and forcethe end of the lever laterally far enough to bring a difi'erent fork, e0 of the lever 0 into contact with the button upon the opposite side ofthe switch from the one last operated upon, and cause the shifting ofthe switch, which, by changing the direction of the threads (0)obliquity, causes the direction of the rotation of the index-wheel E, aswell as that of the needle-ring B, to be reversed. This reversedrotation will continue until another one of the pins j upon the index Ecomes into contact with the angle t" and i upon the other side of thepiece i, when a similar operation will be performed, though reverse inits results, as the lever will be pushed back and the switch 0 againchanged back to where it was before the first change.

The longitudinal movement of the slide f, produced by the contact of thepins j with the angles t" 1', W111 cause a different pin, j, to bebrought into contact at each oscillation of the index E. These pins jare set at any desired points, one each upon imaginary 1n eridian-linesdrawn at regular intervals, equal to the width of one tooth of the'atchet f from the center of the index.

The slide will be caused to move in one di rection until such time asone of the inclines h h upon the index E shall push up one of the pins gor g, and, by raising the spring, cause the button g to be unlocked, andleave it free to be turned half-way round by the segment of gears 7L2 kattached to the inclines h h acting upon pinions 1 This will change theposition of the button {1, so that the angles '1 9? presented to thepinsj will be reversed, and the slide moved in an opposite direction bytheir pressure until it is moved far enough to bring the other of thetwo pins g in line with the other incline h h and the pinion g incontact with the other segment h h, and again reverse the direction ofits movement.

For making the requisite oscillations for the knitting of some shapes apin, k, is placed in the center of the button g, and projects below thesquare 1 and upon which a small switch, It, (shown in detail in Fig.14,) placed upon the index E, acts, whereby the slide f is moved onenotch while the wheel is going in one direction, and back again at thenext oscillation of the index E in the same direction, the switch It notacting upon the slide f when the index is moving in a reverse direction.The object of this switch is, by having the lever acted upon by fourpins, j, only (set two each upon an adjacent two of the meridian-linesof theindex,) to cause alternate double oscillations of the needle-ringB to be of a uniform duration. This switch It) is in the form of anacute-angled triangle, slightly widened upon each of its two longersides from about their middle to their base, and forked at its base toadmit a stop-pin, k which limits the amount of its rotation upon apivot, k, near its center, this pivot consisting of astud which passesthrough to the under surface of the index E,where a piece, It, with aVshaped projection attached to it, and acted upon by a similarly-shapedlug upon the end of a spring, 75, serves to hold the switch It inwhichever of its two positions it may have been placed by contact withpin 7:.

Supposing that one of the pinsj in the inner meridian has acted upon thesquare 1', and consequently changed the direction in which the index 1srotating, and that the pink in the center of the button has just come incon tact with the outer side of the switch It near its point; now, asthe point of the lever is considerably nearer to the center of the indexthan the middle of the outer side of the switch 7c when the latter is inits present position, the pin k, and consequently the slide f, will becrowded out, as the pin it moves from the point toward the base of theswitch a distance equal to one tooth of its ratchet f which allows thepin is to pass the center of the switch where it is pivoted; and then,instead of the switch changing the slide f, the pin is will cause theswitch itself to turn, and the pin is will pass,- leaving the switchturned so that the point of the switch is outside of the arc throughwhich the pin it is travelin A pin, .7 in the outer meridian will nowact upon the lever e and reverse the rotation of the index. As the indexreturns the pin is clears the broader end of the switch, and passingoutsideof it moves the point slightly in; but the V-spring 10', upon theunder side of the index, pushes it out again as soon as the pink ispassed, and leaves it out tar enough so that after the pin j, in theouter meridian, at the other end of the oscillation, has caused thedirection to be again reversed, and the pin It returns, traveling uponthe same are, it will strike inside of the point, and the slide f willconsequently be moved in one tooth of its ratchet f and the switch kagain reversed and put back to its position by the action of the pin 7cupon its broader end. As the index returns the pin it will pass upon theinside of the switch without changing its position, and the operationdescribed above will be repeated.

It will be observed that the angles 1" & upon the button never come incontact with the pins j in the index when this switch is employed, sothat the position of the slide f is changed only by the action of theswitch is itself, and neither do the inclines h h or segments [L2 [L3come into operation in this case.

Another form of oscillation may be produced by using two pins, j, only,placed upon the same meridian of the index, and none of the mechanismfor changing the positions of the slide is employed, the pins actingdirectly upon the square When it is necessary to make a completerevolution, or several complete revolutions, of the needle-ring, incombination with a reciprocatory movement of the same, the angles 2' iextend below the square i, and short pins, otherwise similar to pins j,are placed in the index, which, while being long enough to reach theseangles and change the position of the slide f, will not come intocontact wit-h the squares, and consequently the position of the leverwill not be changed, and the rotation of the index and the needle-ringwill not be reversed until the slide is moved out or in sufficiently tobring longer pins j against the square, and bring the mechanism intendedto produce the oscillating movement of the needle-rill g into operation.

My invention also consists in an improvement in the method of giving thelongitudinal movement to the needles necessary to form the stitches.

The gate (3 and upper portion of the upright guides O O are similar tothose described in specification of patent granted to Reed and Mulligan;but a better result in their operation is obtained by substituting forthe adjustable pitman employed and described in that invention anadjustable cam and other devices, of which the following is adescription: Reaching downward from the slide G O are two parallel arms,which embrace at their lower ends a portionof an open cam, F, attachedto a rocking shaft, F, supported by castings F attached to the lowerside of the frame A, and a short horizontal shaft, I, having upon it afriction-roller, which reaches from one to the other, passing through agroove in the cam. This cam receives are ciprocatory rotary movement bymeans of a crank, l or lever on the rock-shaft F and connecting-rod Ffrom an eccentric, F on the main driving-shaft. The groove in the cam iscut at one end for a certain distance upon a circle concentric with thecenter of the shaft, so that while the shaft-roller isin this positionof the groove no motion will be communicated to the gate 0 and needles aby the rotary movement of the cam F. The remainder of the groovegradually approaches the center of the cams rotation as it approachesthe other end I". The cam is set in such a position upon the rock-shaftrelative to the position of the roller on the shaft l as to raise thegate to its highest point when the roller is in the end of the groove atl farthest from the center of the cam, and to carry it to its lowestpoint when the roller is in the end of the groove at 1 nearest thecenter of the cam; but the amount of this movement may be regulated, forthe purpose of taking longer or shorter stitches, by means of a slot, P,in the cam and the bolt by which the cam is fastened to the crank 1 theamount of throw, of course, being greater or less according as theroller is caused to remain less or greater time in the circular portionsof the groove i where no motion is communicated to the gate 0.

It will be observed that whatever variation is made in the length ofthrow of the gate always occurs when it is at its lowest point, nevervarying in its height when it is in its upper position, in which respectI claim an advantage over the adjustable pitman employed in machinesother than mine now in use.

My invention also consists in the substitution of tapered oblong tubes nin the place of round tubes heretofore used in the yarnguides, by meansof which I am enabled to use a coarser yarn, with less liability ofbreakage at knots, without narrowing the space between the tubes,through which the beards of the needles pass. The longer diameter of theoblong tube is parallel with the needle.

Another improvement consists in the employment of a spring-toothedwiper, P, for wiping or drawing the work away from the needles, in placeof the plain or solid one previously employed. This wiper P is providedwith an independent spring-tooth for each needle-thread or stitch,whereby the work is held or drawn equally,notwithstanding anyirregularity or unevenness that may be occasioned by knots or otherwisein the material used.

My invention also consists in the employment of one or more pairs offeedrollers and mechanism for operating them, for the purpose ofregulating the amount of yarn supplied to the needles during the processof knitting, to conform to whatever length or tightness of stitch it maybe desirable to produce, and also to supply to each and every needle aperfectly uniform quantity.

The feed-rollers R R consisting of two parallel rolls set one aboveanother, the under one, B, fluted, and the upper one, R, covered withsome yielding substance, in order to give a gripe or hold upon the yarn,are supported by the frame H H in a position over and parallel with themain driving-shaft D. The up-.

per one ofthese rollers can be removed atpleasure, the ends of the shaftpassing through it, entering vertical guideways s s in the frame H H,open at the top, so that the rollers may be lifted out. \Vhen at itslowest position this roller rests upon the lower one, and the requireddownward pressure is given to it when in operation, or the pressure isrelieved, when it is required to remove the roller, by means of thelever r and its attachments. This lever r, pivoted near its center, hasbelow this point a thread out upon it, and in this thread works an.LCljl1Stlllg-]]l1t ,7' Around the lever, between this nut and a movablepiece upon the lower end of the lever, is wound a spiral spring, 1",arranged to exert whatever degree of pressure upon the movable piecethat the adjusting-nut r shall be setto give. \Vhen this lever is in avertical position the piece will press against the upper side of theroller near its center, the yielding substance with which it (the upperroller) has been heretofore described as being covered being removed atthis part of the roller; but when the lever is turned upon itspivoting-pin to a nearly horizontal position the lever will besufficiently out of the way to permit the lifting of the roller out ofthe guideways s s, for the purpose of removing it.

At the back of the rollers are guides B, through which the yarn passesbefore entering the rollers, arranged to keep the yarns separated whilepassing through the rolls. The shaft passing through the lower rollersis supported at each end by journals in the frame H H, and has at oneend, outside of the journal, a gear, t, keyed to it. The frame H, atthis end of the roller made of the form shown in Figs. 3 and 4, haspivoted to it, by a stud, 1, directly opposite the end of the shaft ofthe lower roller, a swinging frame, t, to which is attached a train ofchange-gearing. This swinging frame t, which, with the exception of theresistance of a spring, to, acting upon a V- shaped lug upon it, is freeto swingilaterally upon the stud t, has two slots, 00 or, one upon eachside of the frame, cut so that the studs about which revolve the pinionst t will hold saidqnnions in gear with the gear it upon the roller R inwhichever part of the slots 00 w it may be necessary to receive thestuds, in

'order to accommodate the dilferent sizes of chan ge-gearin g that itmay be desirable to use in the place of gears t" t upon the stud. Thesechange-gears are so set that but one of them will be in gear with apinion, t upon a stud, t, passing through an opening in the. swingingframe and fixed in the stationary frame II at onetime; but either one orthe other of them, as required, (it will be observed that they are ofdifferent sizes,) may be brought into gear by swinging the swingingframe t from one to the other of the two positions in which it is heldby the spring a The pinioir t has attached to it and revolving with it agear, t, which is geared directly into another gear upon the main shaftI). The changing of the positions of the swinging frame, by which one orthe other of the change-gears is brought into contact with the pinionfor the purpose of changing the speed of the rollers, and therebysupplying a varying quantity of yarn to the needles, when it-is desiredto make tight and loose stitches in the same article, is effectedautomatically during the process of knitting by means of the followingdevices: The swinging frame t is forked at the bottom, the two side a uof the fork extending downward one upon each sile of the driving-shaftD, and each of these forks has passing through it, in a line parallelwith the driving-shaft, a small pinion, n u, attached at the rear end toarms extending downward from a lever, 10', pivoted midway between thesearms, so as to turn in a horizontal direction only to the swingin gframe t. This lever a has two operative positions, and the pins u" u aremade of a proper length, so that while in one of its positions one ofthe pins reaches through the fork of the fame which it is in, andprojects inward from the frame a little way, and the pin in the otherfork extends only through the fork, and does not project beyond theinner surface of the frame. Their order is reversed whenever theposition of the lever is changed from one of its operative positions tothe other, the end of the pin that was projecting before being drawn inflush with the inner surface of the fork, and the other that was inbefore now projects. The pins are about upon a level with the center ofthe main shaft, and it is by means of a cam, 20*, upon this shaft,coming in contact with the projecting pin, one or the other, as the casemay be, that the position of the swinging frame is changed from one tothe other of its two positions, thereby causing one of the gears t t tobe thrown out and the other into gear with the pinion i to vary thespeed of the rollers 1t 1". One end of this swinging lever 15 extendsoutbeyond the frame 25, and has near its outer end two angles or bevels,q q, one upon each side, the incline q nearest the end of the leverbeing made by removing that portion of the lever that is above a linedrawn from the inner and upper corner to the outer and lower one, andthe other, q, a little farther in upon the lever, is made by removing somuch of 'the lever as is above a line drawn from the outer and uppercorner to the lower and inner one. Over the angles q q extends one endof lever 20, and projecting downward from the end of this lever, itslower end resting immediately over one or the other of the two inclines,is a pivoted piece, (1 which has a slight lateral motion parallel withthe lever a but held in a central vertical position when free by stressof a V-shaped spring upon it. The lever w is pivoted near its center toan arm, to, attached to the main frame A, and the other end extends outto and over the center of the revolving button 9 upon the switchlever e,through the center of which but tons passes a vertical pin, k, its lowerend resting upon the surface of the index E, and the upper end being incontact with the under side of the lever 10. Small angles j, Fig. 10,are placed at certain points upon the surface of the index E, arrangedso that-at definite times they will run under the pink, in the center ofthe button g, and push it up. This will in turn force up the end of thelever w over it, and cause the other end of the lever to be depressed.WVe will now suppose that the swinging frame It is in one of its twopositions nearest to the front of the machine, and the pin a attached tothe front end of the lever, is projecting through the fork, and is incontact with the cam 20 or rather was in contact with cam until the campushed it forward out of its circle of contact. The front end of thislever being in will cause the rear end to be in its outer position, andthe swingin g frame 2?, to which the lever a is attached, being in itsforward position, the incline q upon the lever nearest the end will bedirectly under the swinging piece g inthe end of the lever w. Now, asthe end of the lever w is depressed, the swinging piece 1 will come incontact with the rear incline q; and as thisincline is beveled outward,the end of the swinging piece q crowding downward upon it, will forceinward the end of the lever a and with it the pin a, in the rear fork ofthe frame, at the same time driving the other pin, a, at the front endof the lever outward. This will cause the front pin, a to be drawn outof the circle of contact with the cam 21 and at the same time the otherpin, a, being forced in, will be operated upon by the earn 10 and theswinging frame t forced into its other position, where it will be heldby the V-pointed spring a. This change of the position of the frame willhave caused also the lever a to have moved back, so that the incline q,upon which the swinging piece 1 upon the end of the le ver 10 has justoperated, will no longer be directly under the end of the lever to, butwill have been superseded in that position by the other incline q. As,however, the lower end of the swinging piece g was resting upon the rearincline q' when the position of the swinging frame 15 was changed, itwas carried back, as it was enabled to be, by the pivot at its top, andis held in a position a little inclined from a vertical one until theangle upon the index j, having passed the pin k in the center of thebutton g, this end of the lever 10, with the swinging piece g is allowedto rise, and as soon as the lower end of the piece q is clear of theinclines thesprings to will cause it to assume a vertical positionimmediately over the front incline q. Another angle-piece, j, upon theindex, coming in contact with the pin k, will cause this piece (1 to actupon the front incline g, which it is now over, and the frame and leverwill be brought back again to their original positions.

Having described the parts of this machine, I will now proceed todescribe its operation. Having first 'provided the bobbins I at the rearof the machine with the yarn or material to be used, the ends, onestrand for each needle in the gate, are brought forward over theguide-rods J in the frame and passed through the guides R and thenbetween the rollers R R, from which they are led directly to theyarn-guides n, and through them to the knittin g-point. Now, supposethat the process of knitting has been temporarily suspended; at a pointwhere the needle has arrived at its highest point with a complete loopor stitch about it and has just been moved laterally one space by themechanism for that purpose. The machine now being advanced the needlewill descend, and in its descent the beard of the needle will seize theyarn running obliquely across its passage from a yarn-guide, n, immediately behind to the stitch formed upon the needle immediately inadvance of it, and will carry a loop of the yarn down with it, and asthe fixed presser m will, during the operation, crowd the beard of theneedle close against the body of the needle, and the wiper P will holdthe work, the loop previously formed upon the needle will slip up overthe beard, and the new loop will be formed. The needle after descendingthe requisite distance regulated by the adjusting-screw and slot i inthe cam F, to give the desired length of stitch, will rise again, thewiper P will draw the work away from the needle the proper distance,regulated by adjustable arm p and the row of stitches, one stitch foreach needle in the gate, will have been completed. All of this hastranspired while the parallel threads 0 0 upon the switch-wheel e havebeen passing through the teeth of the wheel b and the needle-ring B hasconsequentlytbeen at rest; but now, the needles having been raised totheir highest point, the oblique thread 0 upon the switch 0 will come incontact with the teeth of wheel [2 and the needle-rin g B will have beenmoved in one direction or the other, according to the direction of theobliquity of the thread 0 upon the switch 0 a space equal to thedistance from the center of one needle to the center of another. Thegroove 0 in the gate 0 being at the same level as the groove a about theinside of the cylinder B during this lateral movement of the needles,the lug a upon one the pins g or g, crowds it up, unlocks the of theneedles will have left the groove 0 in the gate 0, and will have goneinto the groove a in the cylinder, while upon the opposite side of thegate 0 the lug a of a needle will havev left the groove at in thecylinder B and entered the one in the gate. The wiper P will rise andapproach the needle in readiness to descend and repeat its functions ofholding and withdrawing the work. The necessary amount of yarn forforming the stitches will have been drawn from the bobbins and suppliedto the needles at a perfectly uniform tension for each strand by thefeed-rollers R lt and their attachments.

The amount of yarn supplied by the rollers to the needles may be varied,as desired, to form tight or loose stitches by means of thechange-gearing connecting these rollers to the main shaft, and changesof the speed of the rollers may be made automatically and withoutstopping the machine during the process of knitting, when it is desiredto make tight and loose stitches in the same work, by the use of thecams, levers, and other devices operated upon by the an gle-pieces jupon the index described as being for that purpose. The switch 0 in theswitch-wheel c, acting alternately upon the needle-ring and index, willcause the index to be moved step by step in one direction until one ofthe pins j upon the index will come into contact with one of the angles'6 i", move the slide fin or out, accordin g to the position of theangles, and then striking the square '5 will push the lever e laterallysufficient to throw one of its forks 6 e away from the switch-wheel c,and bring the other fork into the circle of contact with one of thebuttons (1 d. The button cl d, as it arrives at this point in itsrotation, will receive a quarter-turn, thereby unlocking the switch,changing it, and rclocking it in its new position.

The side of the switch 0 will now protrude upon an opposite side of theswitelrwheel, and will come in contact with one of the forks n of thelever, and force it laterally sufiicicnt to cause the yarn-guides n tobe moved a distance equal to that from one needle to another, in orderthat the yarn may be supplied upon the proper side of the needle, nowthat the direction of the rotation of the needlering is reversed. Thereversed position of the switch 0 will cause the needle-ringB and indexE to rotate in an opposite direction until another pin, one degreefarther in or out from the center of the index than the last, accordingto the direction in which the slide was moved by the last pin, will comeinto contact with the opposite angle z" W, crowd the slide f one notchmore in the same direction as before, and again reverse the position ofthe lever e and switch 0 and the direction of the rotation of theneedle-ring B and index E.

These operations will be continued until one of the inclines 71 or 72comes under one of buttons, and one of the segment of gear h its, cominginto contact with the pinion 1 gives the button g a half-turn, where itis locked by the pin 9, reversing the direction of the angles i V, andcausing the slide f to move in an opposite direction whenever the pinscome in contact with the angles until it brings the other inclines it hunder the other pin, and the other segmental gear h or it turns thebutton 9 and its angles t" 5 back again. The use of this mechanismenables the machine to knit a succession of similar articles withoutstoppage of the machine. Whenever it is desired to make every alternatetwo oscillations of the needle-ring of the same duration, a pin, k, isinserted in the center of the button and switch It is employed. If tomake all the oscillations of a uniform duration, two pins, j, only,acting directly upon the squares 'i, are used, and when desirable toaltern ate oscillations with complete revolution. of the needle-ring,the short pins j and lower angles z" i are employed with the mechanismfor producing the oscillations.

WhatI claim as my invention, and desire to protect by Letters Patent,is-- 1. The combination, in a knitting-machine, of cam F, crank Z shaft1, passing through slot Z l in the cam from one to the other of the twoarms, of the vertical slide 0 and friction-roller upon the shaft 1', bymeans of which the distance the needles descend may be regulated to varythe length of stitch without changing the height of the needles when attheir highest point, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with mechanism in a knitting-machine, of thespring-teeth in the wiper P, operated by the wiper-lever P, cam N N uponthe driving-shaft, spring p and fulcrum-pin p with adjustable arm 12 asshown and described.

3. The combination, in a knitting-machine, with the connecting andoperating mechanism and with the needle-ring and needles, of thehorizontal index-wheel E, provided with fixed pins j, inclines h h,segments of gear h 703, and small switch It, and the switch-lever 0,provided with the slide f and but-ton g, the latter provided with thegear 9 angular and square portionsi and 2' 6, spring g pins g and thepin k in the center of said button for controlling the oscillations ofthe needlering to give the desired form to the articles knitted,substantially as specified.

i. The combination of the feed-rollers R R and guide R for supplying auniform quantity of material to each needle, and the pivoted lever 1",adjusting-nut 1*, spring T and the supports 1-1 H, provided with theslots 8 s, for removing the upper roller, for the purposes specified.

5. The combination, in a knitting-machine, for changing automaticallythe speed of the feed-rollers and the amount of yarn supplied to theneedles, for the purpose of making tight and loose work in the samearticle when desired, 0f the frame H, swinging frame t with their trainof gearing, spring u", acting on the swinging frame t, pinions t forks uu of the swinging frame t, pins u 20 and. lever W, with its angles orbevels q q, cam u, lever w, pivoted piece q pin 7r, and angle j,substantially as specified.

WVitness my hand this 20th day of November, A. D. 1877.

WM. H. MGNARY.

Witnesses:

ALVERT REED, B. S. CLARK.

